Curt Beusman and the Oscars

The Oscar is courtesy of his son, Robert Beusman, whose goes by the name Bobby Houston as a director/writer in Hollywood. Houston and his partner, Robert Hudson, won the Oscar in 2005 for best documentary short subject for "Mighty Times: The Children's March" about the 1963 civil rights protest by thousands of Birmingham, AL, children. Listen to a podcast or read the transcript of an interview they conducted with Tavis Smiley after they won. (Their interview begins in the middle of the podcast.)

Houston, who now lives in The Berkshires in western Massachusetts, and Hudson were previously nominated for an Oscar in 2003 for their film "Mighty Times: The Legacy of Rosa Parks," which won an Emmy award.

Curt Beusman went to the Oscars ceremony in Los Angeles that year, but he didn't go the year his son won. During this year's Oscars, Beusman displayed the statue at a party he hosted.

"If you want to really impress women, you give them an Oscar and take a picture of them," Beusman says. "All my guests had to get their cell phones out, take pictures and e-mail them to their friends. It was a riot. It was really amazing."

Beusman will accept his Lifetime Achievement Award at 10 a.m. next Thursday in Chicago prior to the Richard Simmons keynote address. We'd like to imagine that at his next party people will be just as excited to get their picture taken with this award.